Schafer Claims Kotick Comments Were an "Accident"

Tim Schafer didn't sugar-coat his comments about Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, but he says that he wishes that he had.

Tim Schafer scored points in some quarters when he spoke his mind about Bobby Kotick and said that in his opinion Kotick was bad for the videogame industry. A day after those comments became public, however, and Schafer has backed away from them, saying he didn't mean for anyone to hear them.

Schafer says that he had been careless and not made sure he was off the record before he made his scathing remarks, and that it was important to maintain good ties in the industry, regardless of personal feelings. He didn't revisit or revise his statement on Kotick though, saying that after his slip he was nervous about what he wanted to say.

"I need to keep my mouth shut. It is shocking how you really burn bridges in the industry. You start your own company and you don't have to work for that jerky boss any more. Not naming names," he said. "Then it's like Empire Strikes Back - you walk in the room and, 'Holy s*** Darth Vader's at the table.' It's such a small industry, you see the same people over and over again. No-one ever goes away."

It's hardly surprising that Schafer is hesitant to say anything further; he's already dug a pretty big hole, and is understandably reluctant to make it worse. But considering how strident his comments were - and that Activision felt the need to issue a response - it seems pretty likely that the damage has already been done.